Colorado's 6th Congressional District election, 2016

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Colorado's 6th Congressional District

General Election Date November 8, 2016

Primary Date June 28, 2016

November 8 Election Winner: Mike Coffman

Incumbent prior to election: Mike Coffman

Race Ratings Cook Political Report: Toss-up Sabato's Crystal Ball: Toss-up Rothenberg & Gonzales: Toss-up/Tilt R

Colorado U.S. House Elections District 1 • District 2 • District 3 • District 4 • District 5 • District 6 • District 7

2016 U.S. Senate Elections

The 6th Congressional District of Colorado held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 8, 2016.

Colorado's 6th Congressional District was a battleground district in 2016. Incumbent Mike Coffman (R) won re-election to his fifth term in 2016. He defeated former State Senate Minority Leader Morgan Carroll (D), Norm Olsen (L), and Robert Lee Worthey (G) in the general election on November 8, 2016. No candidate faced a primary opponent in June.

HIGHLIGHTS

Colorado's 6th Congressional District has been a competitive district since redistricting following the 2010 census.

Incumbent Mike Coffman (R) faced re-election in a district that supported Barack Obama in the last two presidential elections.

The presidential race was expected to have a large impact on this race. Coffman had attempted to distance himself from both Trump and Clinton, while challenger Morgan Carroll (D) had sought to tie the incumbent to Trump.

Candidate Filing Deadline	Primary Election	General Election
April 4, 2016	June 28, 2016	November 8, 2016

Primary: A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election.

Colorado utilizes a semi-closed primary system. According to Section 1-7-201 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, " An eligible unaffiliated elector, including a preregistrant who is eligible under section 1-2-101 (2)(c), is entitled to vote in the primary election of a major political party without affiliating with that political party."

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Mike Coffman (R), who was first elected in 2008.

Colorado's 6th Congressional District is one of five located in central Colorado. It includes portions of Adams, Arapahoe, and Douglas counties.

Election results

General election

U.S. House, Colorado District 6 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mike Coffman Incumbent	50.9%	191,626
	Democratic	Morgan Carroll	42.6%	160,372
	Libertarian	Norm Olsen	5%	18,778
	Green	Robert Lee Worthey	1.5%	5,641
Total Votes				376,417
Source: Colorado Secretary of State

Candidates

General election candidates:

Mike Coffman a
Morgan Carroll
Norm Olsen
Robert Lee Worthey

Primary candidates:

Democratic

Morgan Carroll - State Senator a

Republican

Mike Coffman - Incumbent a

Third Party/Other

Robert Lee Worthey (Green) a

Race background

Morgan Carroll was one of the initial members of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Red to Blue Program. The program "highlights top Democratic campaigns across the country, and offers them financial, communications, grassroots, and strategic support."

Presidential preference

Mike Coffman

See also: Republicans and their declared positions on Donald Trump

Coffman has declined to endorse or vote for Donald Trump, explaining that Trump must earn his support. On May 6, 2016, Coffman said, "Both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have tapped into a legitimate anger about the failures of Washington but instead of running a campaign built on a positive vision for overcoming these failures, Donald Trump has conducted a polarizing and divisive campaign. Hillary Clinton is a non-starter and lacks the integrity to lead this nation but Trump has a long way to go to earn the support of many - me included."

Endorsements

Morgan Carroll

• EMILY's List - "As a state legislator for more than a decade, Morgan has worked to protect the environment, expand access to health care, and increase the minimum wage. In Congress, Coloradans can trust that Morgan will always prioritize the needs of families in her community above all else."

• Governor John Hickenlooper

Mike Coffman

• NFIB - "What is important to stress is that Congressmen Coffman has been an unwavering supporter of Main Street on issues specific to small business. He has a stellar, 100-percent voting record on small-business issues this Congress. And that’s important, because it bears reminding everyone that small businesses employ the majority of working Americans, generate almost all new jobs, but have distinctly different difficulties in remaining solvent than big businesses."

• The Denver Post - "In these days of predictable partisanship, it is refreshing to see a lawmaker able to exercise judgment and stand up to his own party. Congressman Mike Coffman has shown himself over the last several years to be that kind of leader, able to vote against fellow Republicans when he felt the needs of his constituents and the country called for him to do so."

Media

Morgan Carroll

Support

"Won't Stand Up for You" - Carroll ad tying Coffman to Trump, released September 2016

"For People" - Carroll campaign ad, released September 2016

Opposition

"Wrong Wrong Wrong" - NRCC ad opposing Carroll, released October 2016

"Clubs" - NRCC ad opposing Carroll, released October 2016

Mike Coffman

Support

"One of Us" - Coffman's first ad, released June 2016

"Country First" - Coffman ad opposing both Trump and Clinton, released August 2016

"Service" - Coffman campaign ad, released October 2016

Opposition

"Before" - House Majority PAC ad opposing Coffman, released October 2016

Campaign themes

Mike Coffman

“	National Security: The United States must have the best trained, best led, and best equipped military in the world. Weakness invites aggression. While our defense priorities must be fully funded, wasteful spending in the defense budget must be cut by reducing the bloated Pentagon bureaucracy, acquisition reform, and getting our allies to shoulder their share of the burden. Veterans: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is mired in a culture of bureaucratic incompetence and corruption where no one responsible for wrongdoing is ever held accountable. The VA has failed to meet our nation’s obligations to the men and women, who have served our nation in uniform, and who have made tremendous sacrifices in defense of our freedom. VA whistleblowers must be protected and veterans who live 40 miles outside of a VA facility, or can’t get an appointment within 30 days, must be allowed to go a private health care provider, reimbursed by the VA. Health Care Reform: Health care cost have not gone down under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare, as promised. The consumer protections under the ACA, such as allowing dependents to stay on a parent’s policy until age 26, and prohibiting discrimination based on gender or pre-existing conditions should remain. Beyond that, states should be given discretion, within broad parameters, to devise their own solutions to bring down cost and to broaden access. Saving Social Security: We can start with reforming the Social Security Disability program that is being abused due to poorly written laws, unscrupulous lawyers, and too many abled-bodied workers seeking an early retirement. The solvency problem of the Social Security Disability program is bleeding into the Social Security program for seniors who have earned their benefits from a lifetime of hard work. Congress must reform the disability program and restore the payroll taxes that it took from the Social Security Supplemental program for seniors to prop up the disability program. Saving Medicare: Medical cost for seniors, under Medicare, can be dramatically reduced, stabilizing the long term health of the program, without cutting benefits by reforming the delivery system and focusing on research on innovations such as treatments using adult stem cells that ultimately could lead to procedures and treatments that are less invasive, less costly, and with better outcomes.	”
—Mike Coffman's campaign website

Morgan Carroll

“	Good paying jobs.: Morgan supports the creation of good paying jobs earning a liveable wage, where hard-working families can pay the bills and get ahead. Student Debt reforms.: Morgan supports lowering interest rates on student loans and making it easier for students to re-finance student loans under more favorable terms. Retirement security.: Morgan will fight to protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare and from reckless or corrupt practices that jeopardize private pensions. Renewable energy.: Morgan supports efforts to transition away from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy. People-powered government.: Morgan supports lobbying and campaign finance reforms and efforts to expand government transparency and accountability.	”
—Morgan Carroll's campaign website, http://carrollforcolorado.com/morgans-platform/

Norm Olsen

“

Eliminate the annual budget deficit which is now routinely more than the total national debt just a generation ago. Without any serious limitation on the amount of money available, politicians and policy makers are not required to make hard choices. Thus government has become bloated, inefficient, ineffective, and in many ways corrupt. In essence, politicians are financing their re-election campaigns with loans co-signed by our grandchildren. The "two-party" system is broken. Despite approval ratings in the low teens, 96% of incumbents running for Congress are re-elected. 79 members of the House of Representatives have been there for 10 or more terms. Congress delegates more and more power to a more and more dictatorial president. The "two-party" system is broken. This can only be fixed at such time that neither major party is a majority party.

”

Robert Lee Worthey

“	We the people have been let down and disenfranchised time and time again by a sorely broken political system. The very thought of voting has turned the stomachs of so many citizens as a result of having bought into this false political dichotomy for far too long. Elections are always shaped into such vastly frightful imagery to incite fear of what apocalyptic downturn "the other side" will bring about. It is time that we look beyond "the left" or "the right" in order to move FORWARD. We must unify to resolve this country's many issues and to move forward toward a sustainable means of existence that works for everyone, not just for those who can afford to purchase our leaders and our representatives. We must protect the very environment that provides the basic necessities we need for survival and move toward greener energy sources. We must put an end to the outrageous wealth and income inequality that is starving entire families and forcing into homelessness so many people. We must recognize that all people, regardless of background or belief, are equals as human beings and should be treated as such. Most of all, we must bring empathy, understanding, and compassion to our government, our legislative practices, and our everyday lives in general. After all, a government that does not truly work for its people cannot honestly proclaim itself to be "of the people, by the people, and for the people."	”
—Robert Worthey,

Campaign contributions

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Source: This graphic was generated using data from the FEC.

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Source: This graphic was generated using data from the FEC.

Mike Coffman

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Source: This graphic was generated using data from the FEC.

Morgan Carroll

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Source: This graphic was generated using data from the FEC.

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The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may not represent all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer, and campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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District history

2014

See also: Colorado's 6th Congressional District elections, 2014

Colorado's 6th Congressional District was a battleground district in 2014 due to the fact that the seat was held by a Republican, but the district had a slight Democratic lean. In the primary, both incumbent Mike Coffman (R) and Andrew Romanoff (D) faced no challenger. Coffman defeated Romanoff, Libertarian Norm Olsen and Green Party candidate Gary Swing in the general election on November 4, 2014.

U.S. House, Colorado District 6 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mike Coffman Incumbent	51.9%	143,467
	Democratic	Andrew Romanoff	43%	118,847
	Libertarian	Norm Olsen	3.1%	8,623
	Green	Gary Swing	2%	5,503
Total Votes				276,440
Source: Colorado Secretary of State

2012

See also: Colorado's 6th Congressional District elections, 2012

The 6th Congressional District of Colorado held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Mike Coffman (Colorado) won re-election in the district.

U.S. House, Colorado District 6 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Joe Miklosi	45.8%	156,930
	Republican	Mike Coffman Incumbent	47.8%	163,922
	Libertarian	Patrick Provost	2.5%	8,597
	Independent	Kathy Polhemus	3.9%	13,442
Total Votes				342,891
Source: Colorado Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Important dates and deadlines

See also: Colorado elections, 2016

The calendar below lists important dates for political candidates in Colorado in 2016.

Dates and requirements for candidates in 2016
Deadline	Event type	Event description
April 4, 2016	Ballot access	Last day for major/minor party candidates to file candidate petitions for the primary election
April 20, 2016	Ballot access	Last day for write-in candidates to file affidavits of intent for the primary election
June 28, 2016	Election date	Primary election
July 14, 2016	Ballot access	Last day for unaffiliated candidates to file nomination petitions for the general election
July 21, 2016	Ballot access	Last day for write-in candidates to file affidavits of intent for the general election
November 8, 2016	Election date	General election
Source: Colorado Secretary of State, "2016 Election Calendar," accessed October 28, 2015

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado, 2016
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2016

Footnotes

For information about public policy issues in the 2016 elections, see: Public policy in the 2016 elections!

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Colorado's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Michael Bennet (D)

John Hickenlooper (D)

Representatives

District 1

Diana DeGette (D)

District 2

Joe Neguse (D)

District 3

Lauren Boebert (R)

District 4

Greg Lopez (R)

District 5

Doug Lamborn (R)

District 6

Jason Crow (D)

District 7

Brittany Pettersen (D)

District 8

Yadira Caraveo (D)

Democratic Party (7)

Republican Party (3)